Webster's Dictionary

Webster's Dictionary is a common title given to English language dictionaries in the United States, deriving its name from American lexicographer Noah Webster. In America, the phrase Webster's has become a genericized trademark for dictionaries. Although Merriam-Webster dictionaries are descended from those of the original purchasers of Noah Webster's work, many other dictionaries bear his name, such as those by the publishers Random House and John Wiley & Sons.

Webster's Third New International

After about a decade of preparation, Merriam issued the entirely new Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (familiarly known as Webster's Third,) in September 1961, edited by Philip Babcock Gove and containing over 450,000 entries, including over 50,000 new words and as many new senses for existing words. The final definition, zyzzogeton, was written on October 17, 1960, the final etymology was done on October 26, and the final pronunciation was done on November 9. Final copy went to the typesetters, R. R. Donnelly, on December 2. The book was printed by the Riverside Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The first edition had 2,726 large pages, weighed thirteen and one-half pounds (6.1 kg), and originally sold for $47.50. The changes were the most radical in the history of the Unabridged. Although it was an unprecedented masterwork of scholarship, it was met by many with disappointment and criticism.

Related Topics:
1961 - Philip Babcock Gove - Zyzzogeton - October 17 - 1960 - October 26 - November 9 - R. R. Donnelly - December 2 - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Changes

While prior to Webster's Third, the Unabridged had been expanded with each new edition, with very minimal deletion, Gove now made sweeping deletions. He eliminated the "nonlexical matter," including the Pronouncing Gazetteer, Pronouncing Biographical Dictionary, Arbitrary Signs and Symbols, and other appendix sections, plus most other proper nouns from the main text (including mythological, Biblical, and fictional names, and the names of buildings, historical events, art works, etc.,) and over thirty picture plates. The rationale was that, while useful, these are not strictly about language. Gove justified the change by the company's publication of Webster's Biographical Dictionary in 1943 and Webster's Geographical Dictionary in 1949, and the fact that most of the subjects removed could be found in encyclopedias. However, the change bothered many users of the dictionary who were accustomed to the dictionary being a one-volume reference source.

Related Topics:
1943 - 1949

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Also removed were words which had been virtually out of use, or obsolete, for over two hundred years (except those found in major literature such as Shakespeare), rare variants, reformed spellings, self-explanatory combination words, and other items considered of little value to the general reader. The number of small text illustrations was reduced, page size increased, and print size reduced by one-twelfth, from six point to agate (5.5 point) type. All this was considered necessary because of the large amount of new material, and Webster's Second had almost reached the limits of mechanical bookbinding. The fact that the new book had about 700 fewer pages was justified by the need to allow room for future additions.

Related Topics:
Combination words - Bookbinding

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In style and method, the dictionary bore little resemblance to earlier editions. Headwords (except for "God" and, in the reprints, trademarks) were not capitalized. Instead of capitalizing "American," for example, the dictionary had labels next to the entries reading cap (for the noun) and usu cap (for the adjective). This allowed informative distinctions to be drawn: "gallic" is usu cap while "gallicism" is often cap and "gallicize" is sometimes cap.

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Criticism

Webster's Third was heavily criticized for its "permissiveness" and its refusal to take a position on what was "good" English, critics comparing it unfavorably with the Second Edition. As Herbert Morton put it, "Webster's Second was more than respected. It was accepted as the ultimate authority on meaning and usage and its preeminence was virtually unchallenged in the United States. It did not provoke controversies, it settled them." Critics charged that the dictionary was reluctant to defend standard English, for example entirely eliminating the labels "colloquial," "correct," "incorrect," "proper," "improper," "erroneous," "humorous," "jocular," "poetic," and "contemptuous," among others.

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Gove's stance was an exemplar of descriptivist linguistics, aiming to represent the English language as it is actually spoken and written by most users rather than an elite making pronouncements. David M. Glixon in the Saturday Review described the new approach: "Having descended from God's throne of supreme authority, the Merriam folks are now seated around the city desk, recording like mad." Jacques Barzun said this stance made Webster's Third "the longest political pamphlet ever put together by a party," done with "a dogma that far transcends the limits of lexicography." The dictionary's treatment of "ain't" was subject to particular scorn, the word receiving no more severe comment from Webster's Third than "though disapproved by many and more common in less educated speech, used orally in most parts of the U.S. by many cultivated speakers esp. in the phrase ain't I."

Related Topics:
Descriptivist - Linguistics - Saturday Review - Jacques Barzun - Lexicography

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The Globe and Mail of Toronto editorialized "a dictionary's embrace of the word 'ain't' will comfort the ignorant, confer approval upon the mediocre, and subtly imply that proper English is the tool of only the snob." The New York Times editorialized that "Webster's has, it is apparent, surrendered to the permissive school that has been busily extending its beachhead in English instruction in the schools . . . reinforced the notion that good English is whatever is popular" and "can only accelerate the deterioration" of the English language. The Times'  widely respected Theodore Bernstein, its in-house style maven and a professor of journalism at Columbia University, ordered that The Times'  dictionary-of-record would continue to be the Webster's Second. (It today uses the Webster's New World Dictionary published by John Wiley.) Garry Wills in the National Review opined the new dictionary "has all the modern virtues. It is big, expensive, and ugly. It should be a great success."

Related Topics:
Globe and Mail - Toronto - Snob - The New York Times - Theodore Bernstein - Columbia University - Garry Wills - National Review

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Criticism of the dictionary spurred the creation of the American Heritage Dictionary, where usage notes were determined by a panel of expert writers, commentators, and speakers.

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Revisions and updates

Since the 1961 publication of the Third, Merriam-Webster has reprinted the main text of the dictionary with only minor corrections. To add new words, they created an Addenda Section in 1966, included in the front matter, which was expanded in 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1993, and 2002. However, the rate of additions has been much slower than it had been throughout previous hundred years.

Related Topics:
1961 - Merriam-Webster - 1966 - 1971 - 1976 - 1981 - 1986 - 1993 - 2002

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Following the purchase of Merriam-Webster by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. in 1964, a three-volume version was issued for many years as a supplement to the encyclopedia. At the end of volume three, this edition included the Britannica World Language Dictionary, 474 pages of translations between English and French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and Yiddish.

Related Topics:
Merriam-Webster - Encyclopædia Britannica - 1964 - French - German - Italian - Spanish - Swedish - Yiddish

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Although the time between new editions previously ranged between nineteen and twenty-seven years, after forty-four years Merriam-Webster has not revealed any plans to publish a new edition of their Unabridged.

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